Armond Rizzo surely has clear ideas. Born in 1990 and raised in a very sexist Mexican family in Illinois, by the age of 20 he had already slept with 200 men and at 23 he began his career as a porn actor, initially with the stage name Joey Rodríguez, and never once flinching at who belittled him for his 150 centimetres of height. He enjoys sex and he does solely as a bottom. He worked for all the major production companies, from Men.com and Randy Blue to Lucas Entertainment and Raging Stallion Studios. And he got several awards for it: in 2019 he won “Hottest Bottom” at the Grabby Awards and together with Max Konnor was awarded for “Best Duo Sex Scene” at the GayVN Awards. And just a few days ago, he’s been named best pornstar on social media.
Armond Rizzo calls himself a “selfish bottom”, that means, he explained: “When I have sex, the only thing I want is to feel pleasure. I don’t care if the men I’m doing it with enjoy it, the most important thing to me, is that I do”. Yet he hardly has shown that he is anything but selfish, by starting a major discussion on equal pay in the gay porn industry. He took advantage of his popularity and spoke up about the ongoing situation which, he says, “is factual, but others are too afraid to talk since they are new in the industry”.
BOTTOMS VS TOPS
What had happened? One of the largest porn websites offered Armond to shoot a scene: BlacksonBoys, a site mainly focussing on “interracial bareback gay sex” and on videos where mostly black couples or groups top young white guys. The reputation of the website was worthy of Armond Rizzo, but the retribution certainly not: barely 400 USD (360.00 €), a significantly smaller amount than the one offered to less well-known performers (from 500 to 1,000 USD, approx. 450 to 900 €). And we’re talking about a well-renowned star to genre-lovers.
Armond asked for explanations, and the website replied that they pay bottoming actors less since their videos focus on “dominant tops”. He disclosed he thought: “So when people say the bottoms not important, I’m like, ‘So where’s the dick going into then? Are we just having a jack-off scene or what?’ No hole, no shoot?”.
GAY PORN IS SEXIST…
Rizzo says that the belittlement of bottoms is the sign of a deeply sexist, misogynistic and also homophobic attitude: the bottom, being the one “taking it” and therefore less “manly”, is put on the same level of a woman, thus undergoes the same devaluation that usually women face. Just as much as men are more valued than women, the active role is more valued than the passive one.
Armond also realised that he was facing a matter of justice: producers were ready to treat him with white gloves, but how many inexperienced boys were they taking advantage of? Lots of them, he found out after telling his story on Twitter. BlackonBoys happened to pay as little as 300 USD (around 270 €) to bottoms. The discussion grew and gave a disheartening picture of the gay porn industry.
…AND RACIST TOO
One of the most relevant testimonies is by BLatinoBottom who, despite his nickname, is an actor of colour who has performed as a top actor for BlackonBoys. The actor underlined how the salary policy of the website overturned the most common policy in the porn industry, which tends to pay more white actors, but that’s actually not something to cheer about: the demand would be equal pay, no matter the role or the colour of the performer. In addition, BLatinoBottom, not being aware of the different pay, had asked multiple times to play the passive role, as he did not enjoy playing the top, but the website said no, since their editorial line is centred on the stereotype of the dominant and brutal black man.
So, no matter how you look at it, racism still stands: pornography created by the major production companies and by the most popular websites is an endless vessel for prejudice and dreadful behaviours. Armond Rizzo knows it and that’s why he’s not concerned whether the big names in the industry should boycott him: he wants to focus on online platforms that let performers self-manage, and not depending on producers who discriminate, deploy and often put the actors’ health at risk. Will the outskirts of the smut web be able to give back a diverse representation of bodies, people and sexuality? The answer to this question gains even more relevance considering that the only reference for sex younger people have, is online porn.
Pier Cesare Notaro
translation by Alessia Florimo
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immagini: Il Grande Colibrì
